The release date for the English version of 'A Constellation of Vital Phenomena' by
Anthony Marra is Feb 2014. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
A remarkable first book that vividly imagines an abandoned hospital where a stern physician chooses to take in a little girl who is being pursued, with fatal repercussions.
When her father is kidnapped by Russian soldiers in the latter days of December 2004, eight-year-old Havaa flees into the woods in her little rural Chechnyan town. Fearing for her life, she runs away with their unsuccessful doctor neighbor, Akhmed, to the bombed-out hospital where Sonja, the only medical professional left, tends a constant stream of injured rebels and refugees while lamenting the loss of her sister. The complicated puzzle of chance, treachery, and forgiveness that unexpectedly connects them and determines their destiny is unraveled by Akhmed and Sonja over the course of five intense days by delving into their pasts.
Using the dramatic sweep of The English Patient and the deft sense of location of The Tiger's Wife, Marra makes a striking debut about the transformative power of love during warfare and how it may make us stronger than we ever imagined.